Preview

NYPD: Stop, Question And Frisk Policy

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2830 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
NYPD: Stop, Question And Frisk Policy
NYPD: Stop, Question & Frisk Policy
A New Style of Policing or a Crime Fighting Tool?

Racial Profiling in the Criminal Justice system. Racial Profiling has been argued to be a very ineffective style of community policing in the criminal justice system. Using the New York City Police Department, “Stop, Question & Frisk” Policy as a model, I will show that profiling has led to lower crime rates which is shown from a current and historical point of view. Using history as a tool, in time periods where New York City seen the highest peaks of crime, through interviews and official documents, I will show data on different races being profiled for crimes in different communities. Some would argue that
…show more content…
Kelly as the commissioner of the department for the last ten years. “Stop & Frisk is the practice by which NYPD officers initiates a stop of an individual on the street, based on so-called reasonable suspicion of criminal activity”. ("NYPD 's Stop and Frisk Practice: Unfair and Unjust | Center for Constitutional Rights") This policy came about in 2002, when Mayor Bloomberg along with the Commissioner Kelly created “Operation Impact”. The operation placed new recruit officers directly from the academy to patrol a foot post in a high crime area. With the success of the program within the first year, the program was expanded to include more officers and new strategies to lower crime. Stop, Question and Frisk is a conversation on the roll call of every precinct within the city in which I have witnessed …show more content…
The Center for Constitutional Rights they have filed a federal class action lawsuit (Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al.) against the NYPD and the City of New York. The lawsuit challenges the NYPD’s practice of racial profiling and unconstitutional stops and frisks. Another organization known as the New York Civil Liberties Union, has created and proposed the Community Safety Act to the New York City Council. This act is said to be the first step toward ending discriminatory practices like stop and frisk. “The act is a series of civil rights bulls that if pass this legislation will create a real ban on racial profiling; protect New Yorkers from unlawful searches; and require that police officers identify themselves and explain their actions when they stop people. ("NYPD 's Stop and Frisk Practice: Unfair and Unjust | Center for Constitutional

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    CHAPPELL, KEVIN. "Fighting Against NYC's Stop-And-Frisk Policy." Ebony 67.11 (2012): 29. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. Chappell is a writer for Ebony Magazine. Chappell talks about the stop and frisk police program in New York City. He talks about how blacks are practically being targeted and even gives statistics about the rate in which black men are stopped and how most of these men are eventually found to not be breaking any laws. He gives an account of someone and states that it can be physically and psychologically traumatizing. He states how the stop and frisk is just a massive racial profiling program. What I find most fascinating about this article is the statistics it provides. I feel it will help me in trying to paint the picture of racial profiling from a statically point of view. I plan on using this source to show how law enforcement plays a critical role in racial profiling.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    stop and frisk policy

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This artifact is just the first step towards determining whether the Stop and Frisk Policy has a racially or ethnically biased tilt in different states across the country. The article itself could be placed under the Social Spice category due to race and ethnic profiling, as well as the Political bracket, since some authority agencies claim that it is a form of governance in order to keep the public safe.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though, people who are in favor of stop and frisk are from the city government and from the police department, many other supporters are general residents of New York City who have being affected for the increase of assaults, robberies, and gun violence. In this scenario, I found a heart-breaking story from the New York Post about a seven year old girl who was grazed on her leg by a bullet when she was outside of her grandpa’s house in South Bronx. After that, the girl’s father called for more cops in the neighborhood and also, more “stop and frisk”. He said to support this tool because “it will help prevent shootings and situations like this. In my…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stop and Frisk Policy

    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages

    New York City has a policy in place known as the Stop and Frisk policy. According to New York Criminal Procedure (2012), if a police officer, “suspects that (a) person is committing, has committed or is about to commit either (a) a felony or (b) a misdemeanor defined in the penal law, and may demand of him his name, address and an explanation of his conduct ("New York Criminal," 2012).” Also stated in the procedural handbook, if a police officer, “reasonably suspects that he is in danger of physical injury, he may search such person for a deadly weapon or any instrument, article or substance readily capable of causing serious physical injury and of a sort not ordinarily carried in public places by law-abiding persons ("New York Criminal," 2012).” In short, this policy allows officers to stop suspicious citizens and frisk them for weapons or drugs; it was put into place on September 1, 1971 (“WNYC Newsroom,” 2012). According to Hennelly (2009), “Ninety percent of those stopped were people of color. Only about 10 percent produced an arrest or summons… the NYPD has consistently denied that its stop and frisk strategy involves racial profiling.” Stop and frisk has been the cause of many disagreements and lawsuits (“WNYC Newsroom,” 2012); the policy comes with many pros and cons.…

    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stop and Frisk

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The stop and frisk is when a police officer stops a person, one he/she believes is suspicious individual, and with lawful intent, pats down in search of a hidden weapon in the suspect 's clothing. It seems like a controversial law, arguable yet justifiable. How would you feel if you were stopped by a policeman? Probably scared, angry, and even confused? Of course, if you were innocent. What if you were a drug dealer, or a kidnapper? Perhaps even serial killer equipped with weaponry? To be caught before performing an illicit act based on careless movements and the lack of proper self composure, seems to be justice to me. .…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A controversial topic in American Policing is the issue of racial profiling. Many people have different views when it comes to this subject matter. Many people believe that racial profiling is a myth or ploy and is ultimately nonexistent. Others feel that racial profiling does exist and is a key contributing factor that law enforcement officers use to determine whether to perform law enforcement. The topic of Racial Profiling has been passionately debated among citizens, law enforcement officials, policy makers, and legislators at various levels of government. These debates has led to a large number civil lawsuits nationwide, court-ordered data collection, investigations into certain law enforcement agencies, and the passing of various laws mandating cultural diversity training and prohibiting racial profiling practices in various law enforcement agencies. Still, the following questions have not been thoroughly answered: Are African-Americans and other ethnic groups stopped by police because they are more likely to have committed certain types of traffic violations? Is race a significant predictor of being “pulled over”, cited or search by police? Does law enforcement officials target motorists based on race? This research paper will emphatically prove that African-Americans and other ethnic groups are disproportionately cited for traffic violations more often than whites.…

    • 1595 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stop Frisk

    • 1682 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the city where crime was at all time high during the nineties, the top politicians in New York City decided that something should be done to help stop crime. The NYPD implemented the “Stop and Frisk” policy to bring the crime rate down in the city. However it did more than exceed its expectations and it has been more of a negative than a positive. This policy created tension between the NYPD and the law abiding citizens of New York City because thousands stopped were people of the Black and Latino communities. According to the US Census Bureau NYC has a population of 8,336,697 people. Blacks and Latinos make up 53% of the city population. 85% of New Yorkers stopped are Black and Latino men and 6% of that number actually led to an arrest (NYCLU). At this shocking percentage, it’s apparent that this policy is discriminatory against Blacks and Latinos. Not only is this policy discriminatory, it has violated citizens constitutional rights and been deemed racial profiling.…

    • 1682 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Civil liberties and minority groups are putting pressure on police departments to remove racial and ethnic profiling in pedestrian and traffic stops, while police groups and some experts insist the complaints about the practice are exaggerated. African-Americans have long complained of traffic stops seemingly for "driving while black," and many -- including President Obama and Oprah Winfrey -- said recently they have felt profiled by store clerks for "shopping while black." Hispanics and Muslims also feel singled out as suspected immigration violators or terrorists. Two big law enforcement agencies -- the New York City Police Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, which covers Phoenix -- are under court order to eliminate the…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stop And Frisk

    • 2046 Words
    • 9 Pages

    This paper was written to take a look at both sides of the stop and frisk program. By examining both sides I hope to show the effectiveness of the program, but not to leave out the possible negative effects also. There is no doubt that this program has gain a lot of negative attention, the main controversial issue at hand is that the people feel that it gives the cops to much authority to stop anyone they can. This program is to believe that it is a way to make cities more safe, but the ones’ that are mostly stopped are African-American and Latino young men and they feel that the program is a way for the cops to use it for racial profiling. Not only is it used for profiling, but these people believe…

    • 2046 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stop and frisk is very beneficial because the law enforcement officers has a reasonable suspicion to stop an individual if a crime has occurred or plan to occur. “Stop and frisk is essential to the probable cause and warrant requirements.” (Hall, p. 415, 2015). Many times law enforcement officers do not follow the stop and frisk and abuse the law by doing the opposite by following the law. It is important that law enforcement take authority when necessary instead of making citizens feel unsafe and also putting their life in danger. In today’s society there are many debates regarding police officers profiling. All criminals do not look like criminals, therefore, looking at a person characterics does not define what kind of person he or she is.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stop and Frisk

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 2011 alone, 700,000 New Yorkers were pulled over for stop and frisk searches. Approximately 87 percent were Hispanic or Black and of that percentage 90 percent were deemed innocent (Huffington Post). In comparison, from 2002 to 2011 Hispanics and Blacks made up 90 percent of people stopped, and 88 percent of those stopped were innocent New Yorker (New York Civil Liberties Union). If racial profiling in this case was effective that would be one thing, but there has yet to be any published research that has proven the effectiveness of this program, which is shown in the lack of arrests produced. Violent crimes in New York have decreased by 29 percent between 2001 and 2010; however, other major cities, such as Los Angeles and New Orleans, have experience larger declines without the use of stop and frisk (New York Civil Liberties Union). This is a clear example of why this program that causes more harm than good, should be abolished.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Over twice as many whites were caught with drugs or weapons inside the car than blacks (Engel and Calnon, 2004). In the study of racial profiling in Miami-Dade, research shows that 7.8% blacks were caught with drugs or weapons, and 13.2% of whites were caught with drugs or wither weapons. The Hispanics were in between the blacks and whites which was 10.1%. The use of data and research can be used to provide information on how blacks can either be either the criminals or the victims, which means they are not always the criminals. Police enforcement and those who are a part of the minority community feel as though profiling is a serious issue. To keep track of profiling, agencies must keep up with the behavior of their officers by keeping track of police records. In a 1999, Stop and Frisk study, by New York Attorney General’s Office reported that more whites get stopped and get arrested by law enforcement than blacks. Study shows that blacks were stopped 9.5 times, Hispanics were stopped 8.8 times, and whites were stopped 7.9 times (Gelman, 2007). In the recent years, the NYPD released recent data that shows that 508 -540 individuals were stopped but only 50 of out 436 were arrested. 85.7% of the individuals were black or Hispanics (Lee and Rivera, 2007).…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racial Profiling has existed in the United States for Centuries now, and it is time for change. In “ Racial Profiling and its Solutions” the author states “Steps must be made to combat racial profiling, so the United States can truly live up to its word as an equal nation”. One way to get on the path of stopping Racial Profiling is to change the practice of law enforcement. The main cause of racial profiling comes from police officers, who use racial profiling as a way to harass people and abuse their authority. If the law enforcement would start stopping more individuals of color for actual reasons and stop doing it without a credible reason, the stop of racial profiling would come more easily, which is stated in “ University of Pennsylvania…

    • 183 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine your walking down the street minding your own business and suddenly you have an officer waving a badge in your face. The officer begins to feel you up and grope you. Grabbing whatever is in your pocket and tossing it around without concern. Stop and frisk is the controversial policing tactic when street cops looking for weapons and drugs stop and pat down civilians at random. Since 1968 the stop and frisk law has resulted in sexual abuse and racial profiling.85% stopped are Black or Latino; out of everyone stopped 82% were innocent of any crime. For young African American men, the constant threat posed by stop and frisk is a concern when leaving the house, walking around the neighborhood, and going out with friends. If they fail to show identification, obey orders from police or respond as expected, they can be harassed, beaten or worse.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The judging of an individual’s character by their race did not become relevant because of the Rodney King beating, the attacks on the World Trade Center, or the illegal aliens crossing the Mexican border. Racial Discrimination has been a reoccurring issue for centuries. Throughout time, these judgments and discriminations have led to unwarranted searches, racial riots and unjust prosecutions. Racial Profiling not only adds to this overwhelming issue but is upheld by the U.S. government and prominent leaders. Racial profiling has caused divisions between black men and the police, negative effects on immigration and race relations, and false imprisonment, further proving that racial profiling is not defensible public policy.…

    • 1356 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays